


The High Lady and the Serpent

by CrownsAndMilkshakes



Category: Riverdale - Fandom
Genre: ACoTaR AU, Betty is bored, F/M, Fantasy, High Fae!Betty, Jughead is a distraction, human!jughead, not a slow burn at all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 23:48:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20162137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrownsAndMilkshakes/pseuds/CrownsAndMilkshakes
Summary: Elizabeth Cooper, High Lady of the Night Court found immortal life to be quite boring. Nothing had happened in 300 years. So when a human named Jughead wanders into her land, she decides to have some fun with him.





	The High Lady and the Serpent

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished rereading the court of thorns and roses trilogy and immediately started writing this little fic, because I love that world.
> 
> This fic is unbetad, so there will be mistakes.
> 
> Please enjoy this little fic.

Elizabeth Cooper was walking around in her library looking for something to read. In all honesty, she had already read every book in there. Which was impressive considering there were thousands of books residing in her personal library. It was less impressive when you consider the fact that she was 500 years old.

And what a boring 500 years it’s been. That wasn’t completely true. The first 200 years of her life were filled with war and bloodshed. Wars between the various faerie courts, war with the humans. Both her parents had died in those wars, making her the youngest High Lady in history.

She had made it her mission to bring peace between all the courts and she had succeeded. It hadn’t been easy. The meetings had gone on for years. The other High Lords were twice her age and looked down on her, called her naive. 

But Elizabeth was powerful, very powerful. More powerful than all the males in those meeting rooms combined. And they knew that. They could feel her power. They knew that she could slaughter them all if she felt like it.

They were scared of her and disguised it as anger.

So eventually they agreed on peace.

She also signed a treaty with the humans. She swore to protect their lands. Her court bordered the human territory and she made sure no faerie crossed that border.

The humans didn’t fully trust her, which she supposed was fair. Humans and faeries had hated each other for 1000’s of years and she wasn’t naive enough to think she could just turn that around.

But they signed the treaty, recognizing the benefits for them.

So there hadn’t been a war for 300 years. Betty was glad. She didn’t want to lose any more of her family or friends on the battlefield. She had seen what that kind of loss could do to people and she wanted to make sure no one would experience that again.

But 300 years were a long time and without conflict it could get boring. How do you keep your life fulfilling when you are immortal. 

She eventually picked up her favourite novel. The book was beaten up which showed the 100’s of times she had read it, but she could never get enough. A book about true love, something she hadn’t experienced in her long life. Something she deeply craved even if she wouldn’t admit it to anyone.

She settled in her reading chair, put a blanket over her lap and summoned a cup of tea.

She was 15 pages in when Archie entered the room.  
“High Lady,” he said. Betty raised her eyebrow at the official title. She considered the members of her court her family, so they rarely used titles between them. Especially within her inner circle which Archie was apart of. 

Archie was one of her oldest friends. They had grown up together, trained together and gone to war alongside each other and now he was the commander of her army.

“A human has been detected in our territory. Near the border,” he continued.

Humans rarely entered Eldervair as the faire territory was known. It wasn’t specifically stated in the treaty that they couldn’t, but they were scared. It was dangerous for them. Even though Betty had banned human hunting, some of her people still tried.

‘What do you want us to do with him?” Archie asked.

“Do you think he could be a spy?”

Archie shook his head. “He looks too young and frankly inexperienced. I would even call him clumsy.”

That was weird. Betty couldn’t think of a reason why a human would enter their lands.

“Have you seen him?”

Archie nodded.

“Can I look?”

He nodded again and let the shields to his mind fall so she could slip in. He showed her the image of the boy. He did indeed look young, Betty would guess in his twenties, he had black curly hair and blue piercing eyes. He wasn’t dressed as a warrior or a spy, he wore baggy torn up clothes that didn’t fit his body. He didn’t look to have a weapon on him, save for a small knife he was clutching desperately. He looked scared, but determined.

She slipped out of Archie’s mind and picked up her cup of tea, swirling the liquid around, thinking. What was the boy doing here?

“Do you want me to send one of my soldiers to guide him back to the border or do you want me to go myself?” Archie asked.

Betty looked at him. “You don’t really want to go into those woods do you?” she asked with a mischievous smile. Archie was trained to show no fear, but she knew her friend very well. Those woods were filled with creatures far older than humans or faeries, dangerous creatures who would kill anyone they encountered. Archie was a skilled warrior, but he didn’t possess magic like her, it was a risk to him or one of his soldiers to go out there.

Archie’s silence confirmed her suspicions.

“You don’t have to send anyone. I’ll go myself.” she said as she set her book aside and stood up from her chair.

Archie looked at her confused. “I’ll just send one of my soldiers. It could be dangerous for you.”

Betty laughed at that. Archie had always been protective of her, even though she could take care of herself.

“I’ll go,” she said again.

“Why would you bother with some lost human?”

Archie was right. It wasn’t something she would normally do herself, but she was intrigued by the young man, by the conflicting emotions on his face and she wanted some answers.

She shrugged. “I am bored. This is something to do. I’ll be back before dinner.”

Archie looked like he wanted to argue some more, so she interrupted him before he could speak.

“Veronica will be joining us tonight, so you might want to take some time to get ready to impress her,” she smiled at the blush that spread over his face before continuing. “And she is bringing Cheryl along.” The blush got quickly replaced be a scowl.

She heard Archie mutter something about a demon in a faerie body before she winnowed away.

She appeared in the middle of the woods, about 20 steps away from the boy, who had his back turned to her. She watched him for a second. Took in his pose, he was hunched over with his knife held in front of him like he was ready to attack at any moment. He looked to be searching for something or maybe he was just taking in his surroundings.

She could smell his fear, which was bad because that meant that the ancient creatures could smell it too and were probably on their way to eat him alive.

“What are you doing here?” she spoke up.

He jumped a little before turning around quickly and pointing his knife towards her.

She smiled at the sight of the small weapon. “If you want to kill me you are going to need more than a knife.”

The boy took a small step back, but kept his pose. “You’re a high fea,” he just said.

“I am.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“It wasn’t on my to do list for today,” Betty smiled kindly towards him.

She saw the way his eyes travelled over her, assessing her, trying to determine how much of a threat she was. She supposed she didn’t look very threatening at the moment, she wasn’t wearing her warrior clothes and she didn’t have any weapons on her. She was wearing a simple house dress, which was still more luxurious than most humans owned.

She took a step towards him and he took another step back, the knife now pointed towards her face.

“You haven’t answered my question yet. Why are you on my lands?”

“Why should I tell you?” he snapped back.

She smiled at the courage. It was dumb courage that would get him killed with any other creature in this land, but it was courage nonetheless.

“I decide your fate now, boy. So it would be wise to answer my questions,” she let loose a little bit of her power, so that he could feel it. He stumbled back a few more steps and looked at her with a new terror in his eyes. Those blue orbs were so expressive. She didn’t have to slip into his mind to know what he was thinking, it was all on his face.

“I’m here, because of a bet,”

Betty couldn’t help herself, she laughed at the unexpected answer. “You risk coming here, because of a bet?” she asked.

Jughead looked slightly offended. “Well, more of a mission,” he continued. “I have to bring back a wolf.”

“So you come onto my lands to hunt a wolf wielding only a knife,” he was the dumbest and bravest boy she ever met.

He nodded with a serious expression on his face.

“And why exactly?”

He looked at her for awhile, probably deciding how much of himself he should reveal.

“I have to prove my worth to my gang. Then I can get more jobs and feed my sister and father.”

The amusement faded away from Betty and it was replaced by guilt. She knew the human lands were poor or at least a large part of its population was. A lot poorer than their magical neighbours. She had tried to help, but they wouldn’t accept her charity, as they called it. Humans were even more proud than her own kind.

That poverty had now driven this young boy on a suicide mission to feed his family.

She noticed how incredibly skinny he was. He probably hadn’t eaten a proper meal in a long time. He was in no condition to fight even if he could find a wolf. He would surely die out here.

“How old are you?”

“23”

“And how long have you been providing for your family?”

“Since I was fifteen.”

She could see it, him as a fifteen year old, with clothes full of holes and too big for his scrawny body. The image made her sad. She ran her hands through her hair and made a decision.

“I’m not gonna allow you to hunt my wolves.”

The boy looked at her and she saw the anger on his face. She took a few steps towards him and this time he stood his ground. She saw the fire and fight in his eyes, but also the desperation.

“But I can help you with your problem,” she stopped in front of him and held out her hand. “Come with me.”

“Why should I trust you,” he growled.

She just smiled at him and raised her hand to cup his cheek. She send some of her power through him to make him relaxed. His shoulders first tensed at the contact and then they sagged, he lowered his knife to his side.

“My name is Elizabeth Cooper,” she said softly as her thumb swept over his cheek. “I am the High Lady of these lands and I will not hurt you.” 

She took in his face and noticed how beautiful it was when he wasn’t frowning or scowling. His dark curls fell into those beautiful eyes and that connection she had felt when she first saw him in Archie’s mind grew stronger. He was a fighter, she admired that and she wanted to help him, badly.

“What is your name?” she asked softly.

The boy shook his head like he was waking up from a trance. “Jughead,” he answered a bit warily.

She smiled at him. A smile full of warmth and kindness. She could feel his emotions turning slowly. He wasn’t scared anymore, he wasn’t angry either. He was mostly confused by her.

“Will you come with me,” she asked. “I can show you riches beyond your wildest dreams. You never have to worry about feeding your family again.”

“You’ll give me money?” she thought he looked adorable as he stared at her with wide eyes. It made her do something she never thought she would do.

She smiled at him with the confidence you could only have after living for centuries and took one step closer, so that their bodies were brushing against each other. Jughead tensed at the contact, but stayed in his place, looking directly into her eyes. She stood on her tiptoes and brought her mouth to his ear. 

“I’ll give you anything you want,” she whispered.

When she leaned back, she saw how dark his eyes had become. Gone was any fear or confusion and it was replaced by hunger. He looked at her like he could devour her and it send an unexpected thrill through her. Apparently she wasn’t the only one feeling their connection.

“I smell food," a voice whispered through the air, breaking the trance they were in. 

Jughead looked around him, trying to locate where the voice had come from.

“What was that?”

“I suggest you take my hand, because that is a creature you do not want to encounter,” she held up her hand once more.

Jughead looked at it and then back to her face. She could see the war of emotions in his eyes, but he took her hand.

She smiled. “Good boy. Now don’t be too surprised.”

“Surprised about wha…” she winnowed them away before he could finish his sentence.

He fell to his knees, gasping for air once they arrived at Betty’s home. She had never winnowed a human before and she wondered if their bodies were too fragile for that form of transportation.

Jughead looked to be fine a few seconds later when he looked up at her, angry. “You could have warned me,” he said.

“I did.”

“Warn me earlier than a second before.”

Betty shrugged. “That creature was getting close, if I would have waited longer it would have gotten to us and you wouldn’t be in one piece.”

Colour drained from Jughead’s face. “What was that creature?”

Betty looked at him mysteriously. “I better not say,” she answered. “Once you know his name, he will find you in your dreams.”

Jughead nodded before standing up and looking around. Awe crossed over his face as he took in his surroundings. They were standing in her study which was filled with paintings, books and weapons. Maybe a strange combination of items, but it were these items that filled Betty’s life.

“What is this place?” Jughead asked.

“This is my home.”

“All this space to yourself,” Jughead scoffed slightly. “This room is bigger than my entire house.”

Betty felt guilty once more, even though she knew it wasn’t her fault. The human king bled his citizens poor. She decided she would pay him a visit soon.

Jughead turned to her. “Were you serious about giving me money?” he asked.

She just nodded.

“In exchange for what? I have nothing I could give you.”

Betty hadn’t even thought of a bargain of sorts, she just had this need to help the young man in front of her. She wondered if he wanted a bargain, if he was too proud to accept money as a gift. She thought about it, there was something he could give her.

“In exchange for company,’ she said after a minute. “I will make sure you never have to worry about money again and you will spent one day with me every two weeks.”

“What will you have me do? Work for you?”

She sighed. He really tried hard to think the worst of her. 

“I just want some company, Jughead. It gets boring in here and I would like a new friend.”

He looked at her long and hard before he relaxed his face. “Okay, it’s a deal.”

Betty’s face broke into a smile and she felt a rush of joy. “Great!” she clapped her hands together. “I’ll send you home tomorrow with bags full of gold, but now you need to take a bath, cause you reek.” she grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the bathroom.

“You want me to bathe,” Jughead sputtered once they were in the bathroom.

“Yes. My friends are coming over tonight and trust me, you do not want to meet them looking like you do now. They are ruthless. You would wish you were back in the ancient forest,” she waved her hand and the bathtub was filled with hot water.

Jughead eyes widened at the use of magic and just stood around looking awkward.

Betty rolled her eyes and walked up to him. She unbuttoned the first button of his shirt.

“What are you doing,” Jughead asked a bit shocked.

She smiled up at him deviantly. “You looked unsure about what to do. I just thought I would help you undress for your bath.”

She unbuttoned another one before Jughead swatted her hands away. “I know how to take a bath,” he said as he started undoing his own buttons. Betty leaned against the wall and watched him. Jughead took off his shirt and his hands moved to his pants before turning to her.

“Are you just going to stand there and watch me?”

Betty shrugged. “If you want,’ she answered cheekily.

He just gave her an unimpressed look and she giggled. She waved her hand again and clothes appeared for him.

“I’ll be outside. Just give a scream if you want me to help you,” she winked and giggled again as she saw a slight blush cover his cheeks.

Betty let herself fall on the bed in the room which was connected to the bathroom that Jughead was occupying. She put her hands on her own warm cheeks. She didn’t know where this flirting was coming from, this wasn’t how she normally acted. She just thought he was cute and liked teasing him. And if she was honest, she was also kind of attracted to him, it had come on so suddenly it shocked her.

She hadn’t planned on making a deal with him when she transported them to her house. She just wanted to give him a proper meal and send him home with some money. But she felt something special in him, a connection that she didn’t want to give up yet.

It could be fun to have him around every once in a while. She could learn more about human culture from him and expand her knowledge, so that she could hopefully form a better alliance with the king.

Besides she wasn’t taking advantage of him. She was giving him more money than he could earn in a lifetime, only by having to talk to her every once in a while. That didn’t seem that bad.

She was lying on her bed for a solid twenty minutes, just staring at the ceiling, when the door opened. She raised herself up on her elbows and felt her cheeks warm again when she was Jughead standing in the doorway. His hair was still damp and he was wearing the clothes she had laid out for him. They were simple clothes. Some black pants with boots, a white, button up shirt and a black jacket. Nothing luxurious, but he looked good.

“He’s beautiful,” Betty thought.

She realized she was staring at him, but he didn’t seem to notice because he was staring at her too, at her legs to be exact. Her position on the bed had made her flowy skirt ride up and she now showed off skin he had not seen before. She could see the way his eyes travelled over her legs and it made her feel powerful. She liked that she was affecting him too.

She stood up from the bed and let her skirts fall back to cover her legs again. His eyes snapped to her face at the movement and he looked a little embarrassed. She just smiled at him.

“Good, now Veronica won’t mock your fashion sense.”

He looked slightly offended at that. “Who is Veronica?”

“One of my closest friends. My inner circle is coming to dinner tonight and I want them all to meet you.”

Jughead looked a bit uncomfortable and started hopping from one leg to another. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you want them to meet me?”

“Because I meant what I said. I’d like us to be friends and since you’ll be here more often you will see them around. So it would be better to officially introduce you,” Jughead didn’t look convinced. “Don’t worry they’re harmless. Mostly. They are colourful characters, but I’m sure you’ll like them.”

Jughead nodded slowly. “What are we going to do until dinner?”

Right. It was 4 hours till dinner started, so they would need to find an activity to fill the time. She didn’t want to look like she had no idea what she was doing, even though she didn’t, so she turned the question on him.

“What do you normally do in your free time,” she asked.

“I don’t often have free time,” he said hesitantly. “But I like to write every so often.”

Betty smiled. Writing and reading, that was something she could work with. He really was a boy after her own heart. 

“I have the perfect place to show you,” she held up her hand and he took it without question. 

She led him through various rooms including the dining room, the kitchen, another study, two different bedrooms until they arrived in the place where Archie had found her only a few hours earlier, her personal library.

Jughead actually gasped when they entered. He tilted his head back so he could look at all the stories that were populated with bookcases.

“Welcome to my library,” Betty beamed at the effect it had on him.

“These are all your books,” he asked in awe.

She nodded. “This isn’t even everything. Next time you’re here I’ll give you a tour of my city. There are dozens of bookstores there and a library three times this size.”

Jughead nodded slowly, clearly not listening to her as he walked to one of the bookcases and gently grazed his fingers over the spines. He seemed to worship the books.

“I only own one book,” he said softly. “My dad gave it to me when I was 12. I taught myself how to read, but books are expensive so we couldn’t afford to buy any. It’s my dearest possession next to my notebook.”

Betty walked up to him and put her hand over his that was still on the books. “You can stay here for the next few hours and choose a few books to take home with you.” 

He looked at her and for the first time he smiled. She was taken aback by how young it made him seem and how handsome. She squeezed his hand before walking to the chair she was sitting in this morning. Her own book was still open and she picked it back up.

“What are you reading,” Jughead asked.

“My favourite book,” she answered.

“What is it about?”

Betty felt herself blush, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “It’s a love story,” she said softly. “Between a human and a faerie.”

Jughead looked at her amused, probably not the kind of story that he was expecting. “Can I read it sometime?” he asked. “I think a favourite book can reveal a lot about a person.”

She didn’t know what this book would reveal about her other then that she was a hopeless romantic, but it made her happy that he wanted to get to know her a little better. He didn’t seem scared of her anymore, in fact he seemed pretty at ease at the moment.

“You can take it home with you,” she said. “Now take your time to explore this place. Libraries are truly magical.”

And he did. Jughead spent the next few hours walking past bookcases, taking out certain books and cracking them open to read a few pages. Some he would set back, others he would put on a pile he made. And Betty watched him the entire time, while she was pretending to read her book. She was fascinated by him, by how he walked, how he handled the books. His facial expressions when he read something he liked or disliked. As the hours passed by, she felt herself falling more and more for him. She wanted to get to know him, all of him.

Three and a half hours had gone by, Jughead was somewhere on the second story and Betty had just been able to refocus on her book when the door to the library swung open.

“Elizabeth Cooper!” a happy voice called out and Betty immediately lowered her book to see Kevin Keller standing in front of her.

She jumped up and gave him a big hug. “Kev! How have you been? How was your trip to the summer court. I haven’t seen you for way too long. You look great!” she rambled.

Kevin was laughing and returned the hug, lifting her up a little. “I’ve been great. I did miss this place though and I mostly missed my favourite High Lady.” he gave her a final squeeze before letting go. 

“You also look amazing, you are radiating right now,” he complimented her. “Have you finally found a mate, because you are glowing.”

She giggled and slapped his arm. “It’s nothing like that.”

“And who is that?” Kevin was looking up to where Jughead had disappeared and surely enough when Betty herself looked up she saw Jugheads face popping over the railing.

“That is my guest,” she said. “Jughead, come down here and meet my dear friend.”

Jughead looked a bit uncertain, but started climbing down the stairs.

“Is he human?” Kevin whispered to her.

“He is and we only met today, so try not to scare him too much.” Kevin looked at her with raised eyebrows, but said nothing else until Jughead reached them.

“Nice to meet you, Jughead,” they shook hands and Jughead nodded his greeting. He looked a bit tense again and Betty wondered if maybe he wasn’t too good with new people.

“Will you be joining us for dinner tonight,” Kevin asked.

“That was the plan,” he replied.

Kevin turned to Betty with shock. “You said Cheryl was going to be here.”

“She is.”

Kevin turned back to Jughead and looked at him with pity. “You poor boy. My high Lady is really feeding you to the lions.”

Betty slapped his arm and looked at Jughead who was beginning to freak out. “He is making her sound a lot worse than she actually is. She might be a bit tough in the beginning, but once you get to know her she is actually kind of nice.”

Kevin shook his head. “She’s scary. That’s what she is. Don’t let her appearance fool you. She’s not even High Fae.”

“What is she?” Jughead asked.

“I don’t know and at this point I’m too afraid to ask.”

Betty shook her head and porred Kevin in the side. “Stop scaring him.”

At that moment Archie walked into the library, looking very different then he had this morning. He had traded his warrior clothes for a nice suit, trying to impress a certain raven haired fae.

Kevin turned around to face the redhead. “Archiekins! What do you think Cheryl is?”

“An ancient demon,’ he answered without missing a beat.

Betty sighed. “You two are the worst,” she muttered. “I don’t know why I tolerate you.”

“Because you love us,” Kevin said in a sing song voice.

Jughead laughed despite himself and Archie finally noticed him. He turned to Betty with a look that said explain yourself.

“Who is this,” he asked.

“This is my new friend, Jughead,” Betty answered smiling sweetly. “Jughead, this is my best friend Archie. Don’t let all the big muscles scare you, he is a teddy bear,” she ruffled Archie’s hair to make her point.

He slapped her hands away, annoyed. “Hey, I spend 20 minutes on my hair.”

“Yeah, Betty. Veronica won’t look at him if his hair is a birds nest,” Kevin teased and Archie immediately started blushing.

Betty chuckled at her best friends embarrassed face. “Can you two show Jughead to the dining room. The girls should be here soon. I’m gonna change real quick.”

Jughead turned to her with a panicked look on his face that said you’re leaving me alone with them.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be nice. Right?” she turned to the two boys.

Kevin winked at her and slung an arm around Jughead. “You are in good hands, handsome. We will protect you from Cheryl.”

Betty walked into the dining room 10 minutes later to find Cheryl with her hands on Jugheads chest and Jughead looking like he wanted to sink into the floor. Despite his promise, Kevin was watching this unfold from the sidelines with a gleeful smile on his face. 

Betty groaned. She couldn’t trust her friends to behave.

“Keep your hands to yourself, Cheryl,” she said. “He is not your prey.”

Cheryl looked in her direction with irritation, but that quickly turned into appreciation when she saw the High Lady. Veronica who was standing next to the duo actually squealed when she saw Betty.

“You look phenomenal, B,” she exclaimed.

Jughead used this moment to take a few steps away from Cheryl and turned around to look at Betty. When he saw her, he just stared.

Betty was wearing a navy blue dress that showed off a decent amount of cleavage, there was also a slit that ran along her skirt showing off her right leg. She had dressed to impress and by the gobsmacked expression on Jughead’s face, she had succeeded.

Kevin just whistled as she walked by them and she stopped right before Jughead.

“What do you think,” she asked while looking up at him through her lashes.

Jughead slowly closed his mouth and looked her right in the eyes. “You look beautiful,” he said with a husky voice she hadn’t heard before, she felt a warmth low in her stomach and had the sudden urge to push him against a wall and kiss him.

A cough took her out of that fantasy and she turned to face Cheryl who was now looking at her with an unimpressed expression.

“Is this how you greet me?”

Betty rolled her eyes. “I saw you yesterday, Cheryl.”

The redhead shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I want to be worshipped everytime you see me.”

“Well, good thing I walked past the jeweler this morning and saw these in the window,” she dangled a pair of ruby earrings in front of her. Cheryl snatched them out of her hands a second later.

“You beautiful bitch,” she said with an affectionate tone. “These are gorgeous.”

Betty smiled. “Nothing but the best for my second in command.”

She turned to Kevin who was gaping at her and winked at him before giving Veronica a hug.

“I’m so glad you are all here,” she said and as she looked down her friend group she did feel grateful for all of them. Without these people she would have gone crazy years ago. “Now let’s eat.”

Food appeared the moment she said it and she saw Jugheads eyes widen at the large buffet in front of him. She wondered when the last time was he had eaten a proper meal. She linked her arm through his and guided him to the table. 

“You sit next to me as my special guest,” she patted the chair next to her. “You can eat as much as you want.”

Jughead smiled at her before scooping food onto his plate.

Cheryl sat on the other side of Betty and Kevin took a seat opposite her. He was admiring the amount of food Jughead was shoving into his mouth.

“I have never seen anyone eat like that,” he commented. “You sure like eating don’t you,” he said this with a wink towards Betty who just glared back at him. 

Jughead looked up and said with a rare moment of confidence. “If eating was a talent, you could say I’m very talented with my mouth.”

Betty felt herself go red while Kevin threw his head back in laughter.

Archie was sitting next to Kevin and was looking nervously at Veronica who was ignoring him and had her attention turned to Betty. Her eyes flitting between the High Lady and the human next to her, a calculating look on her face.

Betty turned to her best friend and gave her a look that said don’t meddle. Veronica shrugged and turned to the human boy.

“So, Jughead,” she began. “How did you get to meet my High Lady.”

Jughead looked towards Betty, unsure of what to tell them.

“I picked him up,” she answered for him. “He was lost in the ancient forest and I decided to help him out.”

“But how did he get here?” Veronica asked with a smirk on her face.

Betty glared at her, not really knowing how to describe her reasoning for bringing Jughead along. “I want to get to know human culture better. So we struck a deal. I’ll pay him and he will teach me about the human lands. I thought it would come in handy whenever the human king is a pain in the ass,” she replied.

Jughead turned to her. “You want to know about my culture,” he whispered to her. He looked shocked that she was interested in his kind.

She nodded. “If you will teach me,” she whispered back.

“Children, is there something you want to share with the table,” Kevin said.

Betty glared at him, Veronica and Cheryl who were all smiling at her with devious twinkles in their eyes. She needed to turn the conversation around quick before they said something that would scare Jughead away.

“Tell us about your adventures in the summer court, Kev. Did you meet any cute guys.”

Kevin immediately launched into a story about some warrior he met who was injured and he healed him. Betty heaved a sigh or relief and turned around to find Jughead staring at her with an emotion she couldn’t quite place. He didn’t say anything, he just took her hand and squeezed it really quick before going back to shoving food in his mouth.

The rest of the dinner was quite uneventful or as uneventful as it could be with her friend group. Cheryl at one point threatened to burn Kevin alive and Archie had accidentally thrown some of his soup over Veronica’s skirt, he had looked mortified and didn’t stop apologizing until Veronica zipped his mouth shut with a spell.

They all left around 11 pm and Betty felt absolutely exhausted. She was laying with her head on the table when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay,” Jughead asked gently.

She looked up and smiled at him. “I’m fine. Just tired. I love my friends, but they are a handful.”

She took the hand that was on her shoulder and held it in her own. “How are you? They didn’t scare you too much, did they?”

She was really worried Jughead had been overwhelmed. He was quiet and shy the entire dinner and she had second guessed her decision to introduce him to her friends so quickly.

But Jughead squeezed her hand. “I’m okay. They were an energetic bunch, but they didn’t seem like bad guys,” he was quiet for awhile and just looked at her. His stare was so intense, Betty had to fight the urge to look away.

“You aren’t like I thought you were,” he said softly.

Betty stood up from her chair slowly and into his personal space. Their bodies were brushing against each other and their faces were only inches away.

“What did you think I was like,” she whispered.

He seemed to hesitate before speaking. “We were taught that High Fae were brutal creatures who liked to hunt humans for fun,” Betty cringed at the words. She was sad that humans still thought of them that way, even after the treaty.

Jughead interlaced their fingers making her look up at him. “But you are kind and warm,” he whispered. “I know you won’t hurt me or any human. I can feel it.”

He let go of her hand and cupped her cheek the same way she had done in the forest. “This is going to sound crazy, but I feel this connection to you,” he said so softly she barely heard him. He leaned in closer and for a second she thought he was going to kiss her, but he changed direction at the last second and brushed his lips against her cheek instead. She let out a sigh that she would be embarrassed about later.

When he leaned back, she saw his eyes had darkened and she was very close to dragging him to her bedroom and doing unspeakable things to him. But he took a step back and gave her a boyish grin, like he hadn’t just turned her whole world upside down.

“So where will I be sleeping?” he asked innocently.

Two can play that game. 

She gave him a sultry smile and trailed her fingers up his arm. She felt him shudder under her touch. “You can join me in my bed,” she said a little bit more breathless than she wanted to.

She could tell by the look on his face that he almost wanted to take her up on her offer, but before he could say anything, she took his hand and dragged him to a different bedroom. 

“This is where you can sleep when you stay here,” she pointed to the door opposite his. “That’s my room. Just in case,” she winked at him and he smirked back at her.

“Noted,” he said back gruffly. Gone was the shy boy she had met this morning. He already knew how to get under her skin and she didn’t know if she liked it.

“Is there anything you need?”

“I think I’m good.”

She quirked her eyebrow. “You don’t need pajamas.”

He shrugged. “I normally just sleep in my underwear or naked.”

God, that was not an image she needed right now.

She waved her hand and pajamas appeared. Jughead looked at her amused.

“For my own sanity,” she said feeling herself go red.

He chuckled and the sound gave her goosebumps. How was she so attracted to a man she just met this morning.

“Goodnight, Betty,” he said. This was the first time he called her by her name and she liked the way it sounded.

“Night, Juggie,” she whispered before she closed the door and walked into her own bedroom.

It had been a long night for Betty. She had tossed and turned the entire night, not being able to relax. She felt his presence through the walls. Felt this pull between them. She had wanted to walk into his room at least five times, but had stopped herself just in time.

So when the sunlight snuck into her room she just gave up and pulled herself out of bed. She walked into the dinning room, shocked to find Jughead already dressed and eating. She hadn’t expected him to be awake so early and to have such an appetite first thing in the morning.

When Jughead saw her standing in the doorway he only stared, his mouth opened a little. Betty was about to make a teasing comment about her beauty making him speechless until she looked down and realized she was only wearing her very revealing nightgown. She was so used to being alone at home that she hadn’t even thought about changing before she left her bedroom.

She felt herself blush and quickly summoned a bathrobe and wrapped it around herself.

“Close your mouth or you’ll catch flies with it,” she said to him.

“Good morning to you too,” he replied. “Did you sleep well,” he gave her a knowing smirk and she just glared at him.

“You are feeling quite at home already,” she gestured to the food. “Where did you get that?”

“I walked into the kitchen looking for food when I saw that a chef was already preparing it,” he took a bite out of a loaf of bread before continuing. “I didn’t know you had people working for you here. I thought you could just summon anything.”

“I can’t make food appear out of nowhere. I can just transport it. So yes, I have chefs make the food for me.”

Jughead nodded his understanding while he continued to eat. 

They sat in silence for a while. Betty summoned a cup of tea that she was sipping while Jughead continued to shove unholy amounts of food in his mouth. It should have been unattractive, but it wasn’t. In fact it made her wonder how truly good he was with his mouth.

He disrupted her perverted thoughts when he spoke up. 

“I’m going home,” he said carefully.

Of course he was going home today. It had totally slipped her mind for a second, but he had to go home to his sister and father. She knew this, but she still felt sad. 

He was watching her process this before taking her hand once more. “I’ll be back in two weeks, okay,” he said this so gently. When she looked into his face he was smiling affectionately at her. “You can show me your city then. Like you promised.”

She smiled back at him and nodded.

“I’m going to change and then we can go,” she walked away before he could say something else.

30 minutes later they were standing at the border between the human lands and Eldervair. She wasn’t looking at him when she shoved a pouch with gold in his hand. “That should be enough,” she said. She knew she was acting a bit like a brat by being so distant, but she was sad and didn’t want to show him. 

She heard Jughead sigh before she felt a finger under her chin lifting her face to look at him. 

“I’ll see you here in two weeks, okay?” he said and she nodded not being able to form words. He smiled his brilliant smile and kissed her on the corner of her mouth.

She felt it snap into place, the reason she felt this tug, this connection between them.

Jughead pulled back and crossed the invisible border she herself could not cross unless she was invited by the king himself.

“Bye, Betty,” he said with a smile and a wave, but Betty didn’t say anything back. She was so shocked she wasn’t able to form words, she could only stare at him. This beautiful human who had stolen her heart within 24 hours. She felt it pulsing between them, the mating bond that connected them.

Elizabeth Cooper, the High Lady of the night court just found out that her mate, her soulmate was Jughead Jones, the human boy now walking away from her.

**Author's Note:**

> So the story turned out a bit differently than I wanted it too. I thought it was just going to be fun and a little bit sexy, Betty as the sexy seductress and Jughead as the blushing virgin, but alas these characters had to go and make it a more sincere relationship.
> 
> There will be a second chapter from Jughead's POV that includes characters acting on their impulses.
> 
> I hoped you enjoyed!


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